FG gives conditions for reopening Nigerian borders

The federal government is not in a hurry to reopen the country’s shut land borders as it unveiled yesterday the conditions that Nigeria’s neighbouring countries must meet before their pleas are heeded.
The government’s position on the border closure was disclosed yesterday in Abuja by the governor Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House.
Some officials of the neighbouring countries have visited Nigeria since the border closure came into effect to plead with the federal government to review it.
But Emefiele insisted that the borders would remain closed until the affected countries agree to implement mutual anti-smuggling policies.
He told State House correspondents that Nigerian rice and poultry farmers have benefitted immensely from the border closure as they have been able to sell off produce, hitherto hindered by illegal importation and smuggling of the items into the country.
The apex bank boss said that the situation had been undermining Nigeria’s economy and that the federal government was resolute in keeping the borders closed until engagements were concluded with the neighbouring nations to stop using their ports as launch pads for smuggling goods into Nigeria.
Highlighting some economic fundamentals and the benefits of the border closure, Emefiele said that “in November 2015 President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank and some state governors went to Kebbi State to launch the Wet Season Rice Farming. Since then, we have seen an astronomical growth in the number of farmers who have been going into rice farming and our paddy production has gone up also quite exponentially.
“Between 2015 and now, we have also seen an astronomical rise in the number of companies, corporate and individuals that are setting up mills, integrated mills and even small mills in the various areas.
“The Central Bank and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have been at the centre of not just encouraging the production of rice in Nigeria but also funding these farmers by giving them loans to buy seedlings, fertilisers or some of the herbicides that they need for their rice production.
“We have been embarking on a programme where we are saying if you are involved in the business of smuggling or dumping of rice in the country, we close your account in the banking industry. And that is coming very effectively.
“Recently, and this is the absolute truth, about two weeks before the border closure, the chairman of the Rice Processors’ Association – incidentally, he owns Umza Rice in Kano – called me and said that all the rice millers and processors are having in their warehouses nothing less than 25,000 metric tonnes of milled rice in their warehouses.
“This rice has been unsold because of the smuggling and dumping of the product through the Republic of Benin and other border posts that we have in the country and that he would want us to do something about it.
“Second, we also have members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria who complained that they have thousands of crates of eggs that they could not sell; even some of the processed chickens that they could not sell, all arising from smuggling and dumping of poultry products in Nigeria.
“I was told that after some meetings that were held in addition to those engagements that we (CBN) held with the president, the border was closed subsequently.
“A week after the borders were closed, the same rice millers association called to tell us that all the rice that they had in their warehouses had been sold.
“Indeed, a lot of people have been depositing money in their accounts and they have been telling them to ‘please hold on don’t even pay money yet until we finish processing your rice.’
“The poultry associations have also come to say that they have sold all their eggs, they have sold all their processed chickens and that demand is rising.
“So, when you asked: What are the benefits of the border closure to the economy of Nigeria, I just used two products – poultry and rice. The benefit is that it has helped to create jobs for our people, it has helped to bring our integrated rice milling that we have in the country back into business and they are making money.
“Our rural communities are bubbling because there are activities, as rice farmers are able to sell their paddy. The poultry business is also doing well, and maize farmers who produce maize from which feeds are produced are also doing well. These are the benefits,” he said.
Emefiele, however, said that “we are not saying that the borders should be closed in perpetuity, but that before the borders are reopened, there must be concrete engagements with countries that are involved in using their ports for bringing in goods that are smuggling into Nigeria.
“That engagement must be held so that we agree on the basis under which, what are the kinds of products that they can land in their countries because if those products they land in their countries are meant for their local consumption, it is understandable.
“But the fact that those products are landed in their countries and then transshipped or smuggled into Nigeria is something that I am sure you all agree as Nigerians we should not allow to happen because it undermines our economy. It undermines our desire to ensure that industries are running and jobs are created in Nigeria,” he said.